The Robert Aickman Experiment

[Black Pilgrim]

Last week I read Robert Aickman's THE ATTEMPTED RESCUE. There was a quote in
there that I found to be so fitting to my own life and disposition that it
threw me into a colossal depression for a few days. Realizing I had not over
the past 5 or so years read much of Mr. Aickman I decided that the time was
high to go all the way through his strange stories in one intense period and
possibly come out with a sort of altered state of consciousness or possibly
a renewed insight into the workings of what I consider one of the greatest
fiction writers who has ever lived. His work has from the start been so
enigmatically personal for me I thought he might be worth an overdose.

Until this point I have read all of his tales at least once and several many
times over. Not for some time as I stated. I am perfectly away of most of
the online dialogues in the past where others have poked and prodded the
obtuse plotlines, bizarre parallelisms, and general weirdness of Aickman. I
am also aware of several insightful introductions and essays in print form
that I have at my disposal. I regret that I have missed out on Gary
Crawford's Introduction book and that frankly it is not affordable for me at
present.

With this information in mind I shall attempt the darkest of all
pilgrimages - the complete chronological Aickman with a goal of at least a
story a night with the further goal that this will all end up around the end
of October give or take. I will attempt to post notes, thoughts, and
observances of my own while avoiding a repetition of flogging the other dead
horses this newsgroup beat to death years ago.

For now, We Are For The Dark....

[Black Pilgrim]

I think I read in possibly THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF FANTASY that Robert Aickman
is fascinating in that he was always an accomplished writer of the weird.
There was no developmental period, no finding his way or settling into a
mode or voice for his fiction. His first 3 strange tales all but prove this.
In WE ARE FOR THE DARK we are given "The Trains", "The Insufficient Answer",
and "The View". I find it interesting in rereading that clear patterns
develope quickly in Aickman's stories that will be repeated for years on
end - disadvantaged travellers, ugly stone buildings, hints of unknown
illnesses, locked doors, and of course quick glimpses of almost seen figures
which may or may not be real. "The Insufficient Answer" even contains close
to the same line that opens "The Hospice" some decades later.

"The Trains" has been much discussed and is the classic everyone says. I
first read this over 20 years ago and now on a third or fourth reading I
find it has lost none of it's power. Required supernatural fiction.

"The Inssufficient Answer" is seldom discussed and almost never mentioned in
anything I have read to date. A pity as it is a tremendous amount of fun and
a fine gothic ghost story. Possibly the fact that it might be just a bit
conventional -for Aickman that is- leads no one to name it a favorite or
offer it for discussion. Cust is a reported sent to find information on
sculptress Lola Hastings who has exiled herself in Dracula country and to
try to persuade her to sell herself to London society. She is attended by
her private secretary a Miss Poppy Franklin and the local villages who seem
to treat Lola like a god. Like Jonathan Harker Cust finds himself almost a
prison within the desolate castle whilst Franklin developes a life
threatening illness and Lola cannot be found. There is a ghost called
Felicity, a scene straight out of de la Mare's "A Recluse" and some of
Aickman's classic, dark humor as the visiting Cust is constantly put upon by
his surroundings and hosts. I think this one rather light hearted but
enjoyable still. Later I recall that he perfected this plotline in "The
Unsettled Dust".

"The View" is classic Aickman again and it has always reminded me a bit of
Kafka. I know of at least one online individual who has named it their
favorite of his strange stories. One this a further reading I was struck by
how dreamlike it all is and how much like a fable it seems. It certainly is
not aiming at realism and given the fact of the protagonist actually waking
at the end into the "real world" there is little doubt of Aickman's intent.
I remember reading this the first time years ago and finding it made a
startling impression on me then that is lost on repeated readings.
Definitely a downer to be sure and I confess I had to take a night off from
Mr. Aickman because his brand of relentless pessimism
does tend to wear on the reader. At first I wondered why such a story would
be included in a collection titled like this one. It was only until just a
moment ago that I realized this one is probably the most horrifying story of
these three because it probably happens to people all the time whether they
know it or not.

More Dark Entries later....

[Burl Veneer]

I commend you for posting in this moribund newsgroup. Over the summer
I started rereading Aickman, though not methodically. I will be
following your reports closely and may even be inspired to read along,
if time permits (unlikely!).

[Pennyroyal]

On Tue, 7 Sep 2010 23:20:14 -0400, "Black Pilgrim"
<***@hotmail.com> wrote:

<snip>

Post by Black Pilgrim
"The Inssufficient Answer" is seldom discussed and almost never mentioned in
anything I have read to date. A pity as it is a tremendous amount of fun and
a fine gothic ghost story. Possibly the fact that it might be just a bit
conventional -for Aickman that is- leads no one to name it a favorite or
offer it for discussion. Cust is a reported sent to find information on
sculptress Lola Hastings who has exiled herself in Dracula country and to
try to persuade her to sell herself to London society. She is attended by
her private secretary a Miss Poppy Franklin and the local villages who seem
to treat Lola like a god. Like Jonathan Harker Cust finds himself almost a
prison within the desolate castle whilst Franklin developes a life
threatening illness and Lola cannot be found. There is a ghost called
Felicity, a scene straight out of de la Mare's "A Recluse" and some of
Aickman's classic, dark humor as the visiting Cust is constantly put upon by
his surroundings and hosts. I think this one rather light hearted but
enjoyable still. Later I recall that he perfected this plotline in "The
Unsettled Dust".

I would suggest that one possible reason for the lack of attention to
*The Insufficient Answer* is that it only appears (to the best of my
knowledge) in the book *We Are For The Dark* and the collected
editions, all of which I have been unable to find for sale at a cost I
am both willing and able to pay.

Though that does not explain the lack of attention by serious
collectors (and those with deeper pockets) except, perhaps, that an
embarassement of riches forces it to the back of the queue. I still
havent read it, though I remain hopeful. One day in an obscure library
sale or a charity shop (thrift store) I will find that which I have
long sought and I will run home cackling like a maniac. I wish I could
read *The Late Breakfasters* too. I live in hope.

[Black Pilgrim]

The following posts will contain SPOILERS. Sorry for not putting that up on
the last set of notes.

[Black Pilgrim]

"The School Friend" is the opening story in the next Aickman collection. I
know of at least one regular on this group that has named it his favorite. I
find it an odd tale to open a collection but that is probably colored by the
placement in PAINTED DEVILS which I was used to for so long.

This is the first story written in first person we get from Aickman. The
narrator Mel has a former school friend Sally and circumstances have them
both moving back into their childhood homes. Mel with her parents and Sally
into the home of her now deceased father. There is one awkward meeting after
another and Sally seems to be physically, emotionally, and/or
psychologically sliding downhill until she has a bad accident, becomes
hospitalized and thus Mel is assigned to check out her house. We get a ghost
of Sally's father, an unseen monster baby, an inner room, and some typical
Aickman vagueness that culminates in one of his more horrific tales. At the
end though all is well and it is really like nothing happened at all thus we
scratch our heads.

What struck me most this time around is how very similar some of the content
seems to the earlier tale "The Trains". We have two women on a journey -
hiking tour in "Trains" and through life in "School Friend". There is a
vague hint of a sexual type assault in the Margret/Mimi tale and that is
even more explicitly drawn in the Mel/Sally tale as while hospitalized Sally
is found to be pregnant. Finally and most striking is the rooms at the top
of the houses in each of the tales. It is the same room: an elongated near
barren attic room shaped like a box car with bars on the windows. Weird.

Most of this one seems like Aickman having a good pull at the reader's leg.
I almost sense him throwing off the timeline regarding the "baby", Sally's
recovery, and the state of the house as some sort of elaborate, morbid joke.
Even Mel won't tell us what Sally is wearing during the final confrontation
in the Tessler house and Sally cracks wise with "...it's possible for a
child to be born a manner you'd never dream of." Yeah right. It's also
possible for a weird, obsessive writer to crack our heads open with prose
that shows so much whilst explaining so little too. I thought I had it
settled that somehow Dr. Tessler raped and thereby impregnates Sally but
that
does not account for the pig-like "baby" having lived in and busted out of
that upstairs room which was obviously the case at sometime in the past nor
the fact that it appears presumably immediately after Sally is found to be
with
child.

Probably best to move on. Must remember that in the end it is the mystery
that lasts...

[Black Pilgrim]

It sure is fascinating reading Aickman's sex scenes.

Another classic Aickman though it has never been much of a personal favorite
for me. A man and his much younger bride visit a town where all sorts of
church bells ring nonstop. They are told the bells are ringing to wake
the dead. Indeed the sea has even drawn back to give up it's dead. We are
treated to a parade of zombies after an apparent attempt by the newlyweds to
consummate their marriage and scenes of apparently random bizarreness by the
hotel staff and guest. Once again there is a not so vague hint of sexual
assault at the end. This one has no ghost only the living dead. Another
rather explicitly horrific Aickman story and there is a decent radio
adaptation -NIGHTFALL if I remember right - available online if you know
where to look.

Interesting to note that this is the first tale so far the has not had a
person coming to or waking from sleep to something other worldly. All of his
previous tales used this device - Margaret to the female Beech in "The
Trains", Cust to Felicity in "The Insufficient Answer", Carfax to his
utterly empty normal life in "The View", and Mel to Sally plus baby in "The
School Friend". This trick of couse will later be perfected in "The
Hospice".

[Black Pilgrim]

Okay, there is something about some student leaving his date in restaurant
to follow a girl who left after dining alone across the room. He followers
her home, sees a strange man in the street, and gets help from a psychic
doctor. I won't discuss the rest because I just do not get it... at all.
This is the strangest of the strange tales from Aickman. I am still not sure
what almost any of it means and find the end almost overwhelmingly
unsatisfying even from the king of the ambiguous.

You have been warned....

[Black Pilgrim]

From one of his weirdest to one of his worst. This simplistic story more
resembles some of the minor work of E.F. Benson rather than Aickman. A
business traveler named Pendlebury misses a train connection. His only
option is to spend the night in an old disused waiting room at the near
abandon station. Of course it is haunted by a bunch of ghosts as it was
built over the jail from the old days. Apparently whomever survives the
ordeal has such shattered nerves the develop a twitch. End of story. Not
very good especially for Aickman - none of his sexual psychology, character
developement, or intricate plotting.

It should be noted that all of the Aickman tales so far have included an
element of travel in some way. "The School Friend" is possibly the only
exception but Mel still enters the unknown of the Tessler haunted house. Of
course all of M.R. James tales had the element of journeying also so....

[Black Pilgrim]

Stop me if you have heard this one... a lonely traveler, ill satisfied with
life in general decides to stroll out into the English countryside and comes
across....

As this one has a woman I will project a little and say I need to compare
this with at least two of the tales in the upcoming SUB ROSA collection. I
have always liked Aickman's female characters though I have heard rumblings
that he does not have very many women fans. I once tried to get my mother to
read him but she thought him incomprehensible. Probably didn't help that it
was "The Stains" either.

"Bind Your Hair" follows Clarinda Hartley with her soon to be husband on
visit to his family home. She soon grow restless and walks out into the
wilderness of Robert Aickmanland to meet her inevitable fate - a sexless
child guide, another "child" that may be either an animal or a dwarf, a
farrow of pigs, foggy wet weather, and the local town kook who appears to be
leader amongst a colony of werewolves or shapeshifters. No onscreen howling
though. As is customary by now in Aickman our heroine will not escape her
fate.

This one is very entertaining and as Aickman pours on the weirdness it all
seems rather deliciously scary as opposed to emotionally devastating like
some of his more cerebral work. A funny thing to note as I tried to figure
out exactly what he seemed to be describing as Clarinda viewed the
"changing" I found the more I read the description of the beasts and the
maze the less I could "see" it. It worked better read quickly without some
much thought and attention to detail. The same thing happened trying to read
the sex scene in "Ringing the Changes".

Come to think of it this is similar to the opening story in this collection
"The School Friend" - WOMAN ENTERS HAUNTED HOUSE simply put so I guess that
rounds things off nicely. I am inclined to say though that DARK ENTRIES is
not up to Aickman's best work. It just doesn't have the puch of later
collections.

First two down now. Off to the Powers of Darkness. I see it opens with one
of my favorites.....DON'T ANSWER THE PHONE!!!!!!!!!

[Black Pilgrim]

The following posts will contain SPOILERS. By all means read the stories
first.

[Black Pilgrim]

First I must say this is a fantastic choice to open a collection of strange
stories. It packs a real punch, is quick to read, and has one of Aickman's
most satisfying conclusions. I would recommend this one as a good starting
point for Aickman's particular brand of weird tale.

Edmund St. Jude is staying alone in his fiancés studio apartment while she
convalesces in the US. At various hours mostly at night the telephone begins
to pester him in odd ways - hang ups, garbled sounds, wrong numbers, etc.
This interrupts the day to day habits of St. Jude. Worse than the bothersome
phone problems is his social impotence and he eventually finds that he has
no friends. Thus his Christmas is set to be spent alone. Though a Kafkaesque
chain of circumstances he seeks to get in touch with a former female friend
but instead begins a telephone correspondence with a woman named Nera
Condamine. They are both lonely and apparently destitute for any form of
human intimacy and there is a strong hint they begin engaging in phone sex -
"..."it was surprisingly easy to be intimate into the telephone, very
intimate indeed...". St. Jude cannot call Nora or never reaches he if he
tries. Nora calls at odd times thus making him a slave to the phone which
starts to act up even more the closer he moves toward obsession. She won't
meet him in person or give personal information. He thus embarks on one of
those breakdowns worthy of Oliver Onions or Hanz Heinz Ewers becoming
entirely obsessed with his phone friend and hardly eating or sleeping. We
learn at the end the Nora has been dead all along and Aickman closes it all
some of his most chilling closing lines in his description of her demise.
The first time I read it this was close to CARMILLA creepy for me.

Some random thoughts. Essentially St. Jude becomes a victim to technological
trappings he cannot control or understand. He allows himself to substitute
vicarious stimulation for real human companionship. I always find this one
similar to "The Beckoning Fair One" and "The Spider" that I mentioned above.
As the progression into closer intimacy with Nora grows so declines his
physical and emotional health just as in those other tales. I find it
interesting that this is the first Aickman tale that breaks the mold of
either the stranded, lost traveler at the mercy of the elements and/or the
intrusive friend entering the haunted house of another. Here St. Jude
becomes lost in his own haunted mind until he thinks he cannot live without
Nora. Of course she is a ghost so he cannot live with her either.

This is one of Aickman's full blown genuine ghost stories with some eerie
pareidolia like effects exploited by the days of primitive telephones. I
find it rather sad that probably fifty years from now the land line phone
will probably be gone and few young people will understand the strange
nature of voices through wires. Gone will be the days of the late night ring
with its sleeping robbing cacophony of noise or worse the almost silent
breath with a click.

A fine, fine story worthy of being read again and again and again.

[Black Pilgrim]

First there was the "school" friend and now here is the "poor" friend. And
once again the main horror seems to lie in devilish offspring.

Narrated in first person like the first tale in DARK ENTRIES only now the
sexes have switched and we have a man to man friendsip. The narrator seeks
to raise support for electric utilities in England. He is offered help from
Walter Enright an M.P. who takes on his cause to distract him from his
homelife which is a shambles. His wife has "left" (i.e. died) and his
"children" are clearly portrayed as being some sort of birdlike flying
beasts. Details of all this are imparted to our narrator by Enright's mother
in a candid, embarassing conversation - Aickman would later use this device
to perfection but we haven't read that far yet. On a sudden the M.P. and
parliment itself takes on unsavory air and our narrator is treated to
another ghost and auditory/visual glimpses of the "children" that eventually
bring an end to Enrights poor life.

Large chuncks of the tale are apparently Aickman's ruminations on parliment
and its procedures which could be considered dry. I am not really sure what
he is talking about as I am not English nor a parliment scholar but I find
it entertaining and often humorous. This story is also seldom mentioned
though readily available in the abundant PAINTED DEVILS collection. The
cover art for said book is an illustration of this tale. I personally don't
think it is equal to Aickman's best work and I find it surprising that this
story in particular was given such prominance for the American collection.

Off to visit with a star......

[Black Pilgrim]

Those most interested in this tale would do well to read this article-

http://web.archive.org/web/20070630110306/www.prairienet.org/~almahu/walter1.htm

I feel that this essay covers much of this tale and as I have yet to see THE
BLUE LIGHT (1932) I am probably less qualified to comment than Adam Walter.

I will say I like this story more each time I read it. It is a very good one
that at first I confess I just found perplexing. Interesting to note that
Aickman is using the detached narrator in several of the stories in this
particular collection where he only done so once previously. In hindsight it
almost like he is building up to the more personal, intimate single person
narratives that will come in the next collections. It also interesting that
the themes are dealing with social institutions - theater, government,
religion, etc. - rather than the life or death struggles with interpersonal
relationships that is the hallmark of some his most praised work.

[Black Pilgrim]

A well to do businessman gather all different types of religious and
spiritual people at his huge estate for a symposium of deep thinking. There
is a parade of characters like a Fellini casting call. It is very strange
and God even shows up apparently.

I really have nothing to say about it. I know there are people who admire
this one but I have never liked it all that much. To me it feels like a
hurried and/or edited version of something that might not have been such a
hot idea to start with. How it ever got included in THE DARK DESCENT is
beyond me as there are at least 20 other Aickman tales more deserving of a
slot in a major publication. Possibly someday I might grow to appreciate it
but as it stands now on this third read I still don't care much.

Next....

[Black Pilgrim]

This one has got to be an joke. It is almost too bizarre to be called much
else and though it is a supernatural story the main intent seems to be
amusement. It certainly does not have the creeps of Aickman's best work.

Through circumstances beyond their control a middle aged married couple find
themselves put up in the home of a Major and Mrs. Peevers during a boring,
ludicrous seminar. Deirdre a young girl abandon by her boyfriend during the
seminar accompanies them.The Peevers are singularly obsessed with their son
Henry who went missing during the war and who was probably homosexually
involved with his life long friend Jim Tate. The Wakefield - the visiting
couple - are given the whole history of Henry and the Peevers dote over him
and his past ad nauseam. Deirdre feels sympathy and wants to help them. What
follows is certainly one of the more bizarre séances in ghost fiction as
using lumps of sugar, a dead horse eyeball, and the power of suggestion the
small party attempts to call Henry back. It works but Jim Tate, who died in
the war, comes back too.

Interesting that in this story we have a relatively stable married couple as
the center which is not typical for Aickman. There is a sort of take on W.W.
Jacobs "The Monkey's Paw". There is a Hawthorne reference which really
surprised me."Wakefield" was the story and is the couples' name. It is
directly referenced regarding Henry possibly living in an empty house in the
area whereas in Hawthorne's story "Wakefield" left his home on day and lived
for years in a house down the street.

This was better the first time I read it.

[Black Pilgrim]

I confess I hated this story the first time I read it. In fact, this was
only my second read - I disliked it that much. As is typical with Aickman
though over the years his tales seem to evolve and change in the minds of
people that experience them on a personal level. This time around I will say
that this has none of the ghosts, animals, horrors or gothic trappings of
his creepy work. It is however a masterpiece of sorts. The only thing I can
compare it to was the earlier tale "The View" which it in some ways
resembles. I find it difficult to describe or categorize so I will just let
it be known that my mind has completely been turned around on this one. It's
superb. Go Read It For Yourself. Now.






...and on to one of the greatest collections of weird fiction in all of the
20th century...........but shhhh..............

[Black Pilgrim]

In the early 90's I was fortunate to live in close proximity to a university
library that housed a massive collection of rare horror and science fiction.
I remember looking at Arkham's DARK COUNTY from Bradbury. I remember looking
at certain rare works in a room where ink pens were not permitted. Out of
the general fiction section of this library I borrowed SUB ROSA by Robert
Aickman. Until this point I think I had only read "The Hospice". That tale
and snippets of thought about Aickman in other books had made me very
interested. Now at this time in my life I was not too well. I was having
problems with chemical abuse in addtion to emotional and mental sickness. In
fact within a year I would have what is commonly termed a nervous breakdown.

At that time and since the stories in this collection have always hit me on
the deepest of levels. I remember reading them and marvelling at the fact
that Aickman could put down on paper the deep and unsettling feelings that
had plagued me since childhood. It did not matter if these were "ghost" or
"horror" or any other kind of tales. Unlike almost every type of writing I
read until now these made an exception: somehow Robert Aickman managed to
write dreams I had had, horrors I had seen, grief I had felt, and
hopelessness I had lived. For me, SUB ROSA goes far away and beyond almost
every other work of fiction I have ever read. It holds a very special place
for me personally for these reasons and that is all I will say about all
that.



***The following posts will contain SPOILERS. By all means read the stories
first.***

[Black Pilgrim]

What a great opening story. It seems that much of what we have seen from
Aickman so far has now been distilled into writing so powerful that it has
the ability to leave the receptive reader shaken and disturbed for days. He
now combines many of the elements we have so far visited -glimpsed
apparitions, weird sexuality, fears of unknowns, dark corners, feverish
emotions,etc. - into layer upon layer of enigmatic implied narrations that
can only be described as Aickmanesque. This is this writer at the top of his
form.

The title of the tale means "ravishing". It is told in two seperate sections
in non-linear order. The first section tells the end and the second section
the beginning. A timeline of how the story unfolds might look something like
this-

Loading Image...

A anonymous painter and his wife meet the first narrator at a party. They
become social with each other and have dinners together at the couples home.
Time passes and they drift apart. When the painter dies the narrator is made
co-executor of his estate which is dissolved by him and the wife. All the
painters works are destroyed except for a trunk of papers and one painting
the narrator saves. Within this truck is found the second narrative section
told from the first person of the painter. He had been travelling and
drawing information looking into private collections from artists he
admires. His obsession with the other painters that really strike him lead
him to a Madame A. She is an ancient widow of an artist he greatly admires.
What follows is the "ravishing" of the tales' titles and I could not do it
justice by attempting to describe it. What ends up as the final blow to all
sensibilties and inspiration that the painter seeks is what he finds upon
the wall of Madame A.'s guest bedroom - a painting done by himself that he
could not possibly have painted. Aickman dooms the painter to a most
ponderous and nihilistic fate in the words of Madame A. "Not a painter at
all. Would have done better as a sweeper out of cabinets, wouldn't you
agree, or as fetcher and carrier in a horse meat market?" Then she asks for
a souvenir.

This story seems to me like some inadvertant descent into hell. The painter
seeks inspiration and idea. Instead he finds unexplored, uncontrollable
emotions that burn him apart and crush any spirit of wonder, beauty, art,
and
even hope he once had. We are told in the first narrative of how things
ended up. At the end he has become a forgotten artist with no legacy left in
a world he once found stimulating. If he had not made it out of Madame A.'s
home it probably would have been a more mericful fate.

[Black Pilgrim]

Perhaps Robert Aickman's best story. Strong arguments could be made for "The
Hospice" and/or "The Stains" but this is certainly his finest work writing
in female first person. Herein we are taken into uncharted territory with
this one. Instead of a distanced second hand account of a spiritual or
supernatural haunting happening to a friend as seen by an outsider - see
"The School Friend", "My Poor Friend", "The Insufficient Answer", etc. - we
are given a narration by the principle haunted victim herself. A lot has
been said online about this story-

Jim Rockhill has an outstanding piece here-
http://web.archive.org/web/20070825004117/www.prairienet.org/~almahu/jrock1.htm

Which generated some great comments on this very newsgroup archived here-
http://web.archive.org/web/20060923040726/www.prairienet.org/~almahu/inner.htm

Those mostly covers most of it. I just will a couple more cents. When I
first read this story some twenty or so years ago I did not like at all. It
upset me very much and I thought the device of having the main character
Lene get lost and actually find her childhood dollhouse as life-size in the
wilderness strange and baffling. After a bit of digestion I realized that
the reason I was put off was because the story had upset me so much. It grew
on me and I started having nightmares about those dolls and the house of the
story. Upon a second and third and fourth reading I began to see how
ingenious this tale was from the start. On this reading I am still stunned
at how cringe inducing the final pages read. It gets into my subconscious in
a way like few things can and though I have read it numerous times it is
still one seriously disturbing piece of work. Once again like the opener in
this collection it seems like Aickman is jamming his characters into their
own humorless private hells and turning all their hopes and dreams over to
merciless living nightmare. It is not the fear of hurt or death that drives
these horrors but rather the overwhelming devilish powers that crush the
human spirit. In here final line the narrator Lene offer the neglected dolls
a goodbye saying, "I did nothing...nothing." This might be a plea for mercy,
an apology, an excuse, or a self-deprecating admission of guilt. Anyway or
either way it is read in my mind it remains one of the saddest lines in all
of ghost fiction or any other fiction or literature for that matter.

[Black Pilgrim]

Apologies to myself for the inability to follow the timetable I had
instituted. Cares of the world coupled with health concerns have not
permitted me to read through these tales as quickly as I had hoped. At any
rate I will attempt to stay on track though Christmas rather than Halloween
seems a more reasonably goal.

"Never Visit Venice" is difficult to categorize. In the introduction to THE
WINE DARK SEA Peter Straub mentions that it is not a ghost story at all. I
tend to agree though I am at a loss as to what exactly it could be called.
Once again in this collection Aickman seems set on a merciless fate for his
characters within a crushing, humorless world and this is one of the most
bleak. Henry Fern, an introvert, decides to travel to Venice after years of
dreaming of it and romance in a gondolier. He finds his dream come true and
of course it turns into a worst nightmare. This reminds me a bit of "Three
Miles Up" from a former Aickman acquaintance Elizabeth Howard though
probably
just because of the boat motif and the end.

I still cannot decide if I like this story or not. A masterpiece of sorts
none the less.

[Black Pilgrim]

One of Aickman's best last lines.

This one seperates itself from the previous tales in the SUB ROSA by being
in essence a classical type ghost story. Here Aickman departs from the
prevous personally horrific tales in this collection for something more
tradition. It seems to harken back to the same structure used in "The
Insufficient Answer" from the first collection and indeed the pivitol
scenes involving the opening of doors are much of the same with differing
results. In this one it feels more accomplished and well rounded though. A
civil servant spends a few weeks in the mansion of two middle aged sisters
who have allowed the "Fund" control over their home but with their tenancy.
The house has a deluge of dust, a full blown ghost, and a sordid past. The
sisters are living out their remaining days picking at each other and
leading seperate lives. Like so many Aickman characters they seem dead
already only their bodies continue on. It is all documented by the civil
servant in a manner worthy of Benson or Wakefield.

A great story and always a pleasure to read.

[Black Pilgrim]

In my view this is easily the weakest story in this particular collection.
There is almost no suspense as a fairy type tale is related in a pub. The
narrator had travelled to Finland years ago on the business of procuring a
house with his employer. While there he happens upon a small island of
ruinous homes which are populated by the ghosts of slaughtered Russians. It
has a lack of depth when compared with the other tales in SUB ROSA and I
find it far too long given the lack of Aickmanesque subject matter. Not a
bad story necessarily but it pales next to the 3 or 4 masterpieces ahead and
behind it.

[Black Pilgrim]

This is probably the least typical of all of Aickman's stories so far.
Engaged to be married Curtis hints to his wife Nesta that she might do
something to improve her appearance. It is all rather vague. Months after
the marriage Nesta becomes interested in doing just that and seeks out a
mysterious woman to help her. We as readers are given few details but as
things progress Nesta gets extravagant, becomes obsessed with her
fingernails, and takes to wearing veils that cover her face except for her
mouth. Curtis falls apart in more ways than one until she eventually walks
out on him.

Once again I am put in mind of Hawthorne - as I was in "A Roman Question"-
because of the ideas about destroying beauty and the veil thing. This story
is unlike the usual Aickman in at least two respects. First off, this is the
very first time that we have absolutely no reference to weather or climate
which is almost always a central component to the progression of these
tales. Second, we as readers stand outside of the characters and are never
given the inward workings of Curtis or Nesta. As is known character
feelings, reactions, and observations are also a very central part of the
usual Aickman. In this one we just observe the outward actions as in a fairy
tale or parable.

What to make of it all. At this point I am going to vote - strangest of the
strange. I like it and it seems like it should make some sort of sense,
unlike something like "Choice of Weapons", but I am not sure I have the
mental capacity to get what he is driving at here. Need to reread again in
the future.

[Black Pilgrim]

sorry for the mess new mail program

[Black Pilgrim]

This is probably the least typical of all of Aickman's stories so far.
Engaged to be married Curtis hints to his wife Nesta that she might do
something to improve her appearance. It is all rather vague. Months after
the marriage Nesta becomes interested in doing just that and seeks out a
mysterious woman to help her. We as readers are given few details but as
things progress Nesta gets extravagant, becomes obsessed with her
fingernails, and takes to wearing veils that cover her face except for her
mouth. Curtis falls apart in more ways than one until she eventually walks
out on him.

Once again I am put in mind of Hawthorne - as I was in "A Roman Question"-
because of the ideas about destroying beauty and the veil thing. This story
is unlike the usual Aickman in at least two respects. First off, this is the
very first time that we have absolutely no reference to weather or climate
which is almost always a central component to the progression of these
tales. Second, we as readers stand outside of the characters and are never
given the inward workings of Curtis or Nesta. As is known character
feelings, reactions, and observations are also a very central part of the
usual Aickman. In this one we just observe the outward actions as in a fairy
tale or parable.

What to make of it all. At this point I am going to vote - strangest of the
strange. I like it and it seems like it should make some sort of sense,
unlike something like "Choice of Weapons", but I am not sure I have the
mental capacity to get what he is driving at here. Need to reread again in
the future.

[Black Pilgrim]

This is probably the least typical of all of Aickman's stories so far.
Engaged to be married Curtis hints to his wife Nesta that she might do
something to improve her appearance. It is all rather vague. Months after
the marriage Nesta becomes interested in doing just that and seeks out a
mysterious woman to help her. We as readers are given few details but as
things progress Nesta gets extravagant, becomes obsessed with her
fingernails, and takes to wearing veils that cover her face except for her
mouth. Curtis falls apart in more ways than one until she eventually walks
out on him.

Once again I am put in mind of Hawthorne - as I was in "A Roman Question"-
because of the ideas about destroying beauty and the veil thing. This story
is unlike the usual Aickman in at least two respects. First off, this is the
very first time that we have absolutely no reference to weather or climate
which is almost always a central component to the progression of these
tales. Second, we as readers stand outside of the characters and are never
given the inward workings of Curtis or Nesta. As is known character
feelings, reactions, and observations are also a very central part of the
usual Aickman. In this one we just observe the outward actions as in a fairy
tale or parable.

What to make of it all. At this point I am going to vote - strangest of the
strange. I like it and it seems like it should make some sort of sense,
unlike something like "Choice of Weapons", but I am not sure I have the
mental capacity to get what he is driving at here. Need to reread again in
the future.

[Jim]

On Oct 20, 10:53 pm, "Black Pilgrim" <***@hotmail.com> wrote:

Interesting post! [snipped] Sorry to intrude.

Philip Challinor includes an essay on this story in his recent booklet
of Aickman essays, AKIN TO POETRY: OBSERVATIONS ON SOME STRANGE TALES
OF ROBERT AICKMAN (Gothic Press, 2010). I posted an overview of
Aickman and review of this booklet at Amazon yesterday - http://tiny.cc/48q0z
.

Jim

[Black Pilgrim]

Post by Jim
Interesting post! [snipped] Sorry to intrude.
Philip Challinor includes an essay on this story in his recent booklet
of Aickman essays, AKIN TO POETRY: OBSERVATIONS ON SOME STRANGE TALES
OF ROBERT AICKMAN (Gothic Press, 2010). I posted an overview of
Aickman and review of this booklet at Amazon yesterday -
http://tiny.cc/48q0z
.
Jim

Great article. Thank you.

[Jim]

Post by Black Pilgrim

Post by Jim
Interesting post! [snipped] Sorry to intrude.
Jim

Great article. Thank you.

I replied to this a few days ago, and although it looked as if my post
went through, it never seemed to appear on the board. Thank you for
this, and you are welcome. Have been enjoying your Aickman thread.

Jim

[Black Pilgrim]

Seem like Reggie Oliver was writing stories long before he started getting
published. Jocularity aside though this one is often mentioned and included
in anthologies. I suffer from a perception disorder with this tale. It was
startling and scary the very first time I read it but on subsequent reads
the effect has been lost. My problem. A fine piece of work regardless of my
inability to recapture the magic.

[Black Pilgrim]

What an odd choice to end SUB ROSA with it's open ended, expectant
conclusion. What an odd story. Is it horror? Is it
ghostly? It is definitely among Aickman's best.

I must recommend Peter Straub's comments in the introduction to THE
WINE-DARK SEA (1988 Arbor House) for this one. Though I do not agree that
this is Aickman's masterpiece of that particular collection - I would argue
for "The Inner Room" or "The Stains" - I am not qualified or astute enough
to say it much better.

So ends SUB ROSA and the next half of Aickman's output looms ahead.

[Black Pilgrim]

Aickman's most popular collection. Available just about everywhere and for
cheap. I once bought a copy at a small bookstore in the back of an
"Appalachian" gas station/auto garage. I have four or five copies just lying
around most in only readable condition. I guess I looked so long and hard
before the Tartarus collection came out that I couldn't bring myself to pass
on any Aickman if it was cheap. Cannot say I have ever been too fond of any
of the cover arts though - the HB looks like the hand in ATTACK OF 50 FOOT
WOMAN though the house in the distance is nice and the PB cover with the bat
is just plain goofy.

The title harkens back to something for me. It seems to be a play on the
earlier opening tale in POWERS OF DARKNESS "Your Tiny Hand Is Frozen". I
have often wondered if Aickman was fond of that hand holding scene in
Jackson's HILL HOUSE.

***The following posts will contain SPOILERS. By all means read the stories
first.***

[Black Pilgrim]

Easily the worst traveling salesman joke I have ever heard and most
certainly the sickest. For someone who is still debated as supernatural we
sure have to this point seen quite the cast of otherworldly characters -
ghosts, werewolves, mutant babies, phantom children, killer dust clouds,
demonic priests, etc. If I read right it makes this one Aickman's second
zombie story after "A Roman Question" - "Never Visit Venice" does not count
as it is only a skeleton and it isn't exactly animated. I know some argument
could be made that is in the CALIGARI vein of mesmerism, Aickman hints a
little at this at one point, but I think the zombie interpretation is more
fitting and plausible. Either way necrophilia seems our author's primary
directive.

The unnamed first person narrator describes his first experience. Weary of
the noisy sex and disturbing carousing in the flop house his uncle assigns
him he wanders Wolverhampton when he is not doing his day job of lackluster
sales. He comes upon a pitiful fun fair type thing and enters a filthy tent
titled "The Swords". Inside the show consists of a barker calling men to the
stage to plunge swords into the body of young woman who beautifies and seems
aroused by the process. She does not bleed as far as the narrator sees and
he also gets greatly aroused but he is too timid to take his turn and skips
out. The girl won't leave his mind and he happens upon the barker and the
girl called Madonna in a diner. A private show is arranged. During some
awkward Aickman sex the narrator becomes increasingly irritated with
Madonna's lack of emotional response to his arousal and trying to lift her
up for who knows what he pulls her hand off. She dresses while crying,
retrieves her hand and leaves. The barker show up to collect the money and
tells the narrator they will meet again. End of story.

On this reread this tale has lost none of it's power and I was startled at
how unpleasantly gruesome it remains. The narration of the tent show and
then the subsequent "first experience" are squirm inducing. What I found
oddest of all though is in the conclusion of Madonna's exit we are told,
"...she made a single appallingly significant snatch in my direction, caught
something up..." meaning the hand. Apparently also meaning that this sick,
nasty man actually sat there and held the detached arm while she was
dressing. Of course he was also all horned up by seeing strange men stick
swords in her so it shouldn't surprise me I suppose. We have entered a new
realm of even stranger sexual strangeness.

A great horror story but that doesn't mean it's enjoyable.

[Bill B.]

"The Swords" was the first Aickman I ever read, sixteen or so years
ago; I reread it over the summer, and I like it even better now. I
think Madonna's condition cannot be ascribed to mere zombieism or
mesmerism, but is something more inexplicable. (And what are Aickman's
stories if not inexplicable?) One thing that struck me upon rereading
is how often Aickman mentions the barker's "seaman's coat". Maybe it's
juvenile of me, but I can't shake the suspicion that his repetition of
the word "seaman" in such a sexually-charged story is a bit of
homophonic wordplay. And the story itself I find enjoyable, in the
same morbid way that Heinrich Hoffmann and Edward Gorey are enjoyable.

Post by Black Pilgrim
Easily the worst traveling salesman joke I have ever heard and most
certainly the sickest. For someone who is still debated as supernatural we
sure have to this point seen quite the cast of otherworldly characters -
ghosts, werewolves, mutant babies, phantom children, killer dust clouds,
demonic priests, etc. If I read right it makes this oneAickman'ssecond
zombie story after "A Roman Question" - "Never Visit Venice" does not count
as it is only a skeleton and it isn't exactly animated. I know some argument
could be made that is in the CALIGARI vein of mesmerism,Aickmanhints a
little at this at one point, but I think the zombie interpretation is more
fitting and plausible. Either way necrophilia seems our author's primary
directive.
The unnamed first person narrator describes his first experience. Weary of
the noisy sex and disturbing carousing in the flop house his uncle assigns
him he wanders Wolverhampton when he is not doing his day job of lackluster
sales. He comes upon a pitiful fun fair type thing and enters a filthy tent
titled "TheSwords". Inside the show consists of a barker calling men to the
stage to plungeswordsinto the body of young woman who beautifies and seems
aroused by the process. She does not bleed as far as the narrator sees and
he also gets greatly aroused but he is too timid to take his turn and skips
out. The girl won't leave his mind and he happens upon the barker and the
girl called Madonna in a diner. A private show is arranged. During some
awkwardAickmansex the narrator becomes increasingly irritated with
Madonna's lack of emotional response to his arousal and trying to lift her
up for who knows what he pulls her hand off. She dresses while crying,
retrieves her hand and leaves. The barker show up to collect the money and
tells the narrator they will meet again. End of story.
On this reread this tale has lost none of it's power and I was startled at
how unpleasantly gruesome it remains. The narration of the tent show and
then the subsequent "first experience" are squirm inducing. What I found
oddest of all though is in the conclusion of Madonna's exit we are told,
"...she made a single appallingly significant snatch in my direction, caught
something up..." meaning the hand. Apparently also meaning that this sick,
nasty man actually sat there and held the detached arm while she was
dressing. Of course he was also all horned up by seeing strange men stickswordsin her so it shouldn't surprise me I suppose.  We have entered a new
realm of even stranger sexual strangeness.
A great horror story but that doesn't mean it's enjoyable.

[Black Pilgrim]

Post by Bill B.
"The Swords" was the first Aickman I ever read, sixteen or so years
ago; I reread it over the summer, and I like it even better now. I
think Madonna's condition cannot be ascribed to mere zombieism or
mesmerism, but is something more inexplicable. (And what are Aickman's
stories if not inexplicable?)

I agree. It was more a matter of just trying to guess. The biggest argument
against the zombie theory is the fact that she is never described as "cold"
though obviously the collection's title came from this particular tale.

One thing that struck me upon rereading

Post by Bill B.
is how often Aickman mentions the barker's "seaman's coat". Maybe it's
juvenile of me, but I can't shake the suspicion that his repetition of
the word "seaman" in such a sexually-charged story is a bit of
homophonic wordplay. And the story itself I find enjoyable, in the
same morbid way that Heinrich Hoffmann and Edward Gorey are enjoyable.

I came across rather harsh. I DO enjoy the story too but it is unpleasant
and I know it might be generalizing but I find it hard to believe that many
female readers would take delight in this one.

As for the seaman outfit I noticed that this time around also though I did
not equate the sexual wordplay. Instead my mind drifted off to foreign lands
where sailors encountered strange cultures and acquired strange cargo. It is
terribly odd that a circus barker would be dressed as a mariner. And I also
noticed that Aickman takes special care to describe exactly where and how
the seaman is looking/fixing his eyes which might add something to the
mesmerism theory thought I don't know how or why. Did someone say
inexplicable?

Post by Bill B.

Post by Black Pilgrim
Easily the worst traveling salesman joke I have ever heard and most
certainly the sickest. For someone who is still debated as supernatural we
sure have to this point seen quite the cast of otherworldly characters -
ghosts, werewolves, mutant babies, phantom children, killer dust clouds,
demonic priests, etc. If I read right it makes this oneAickman'ssecond
zombie story after "A Roman Question" - "Never Visit Venice" does not count
as it is only a skeleton and it isn't exactly animated. I know some argument
could be made that is in the CALIGARI vein of mesmerism,Aickmanhints a
little at this at one point, but I think the zombie interpretation is more
fitting and plausible. Either way necrophilia seems our author's primary
directive.
The unnamed first person narrator describes his first experience. Weary of
the noisy sex and disturbing carousing in the flop house his uncle assigns
him he wanders Wolverhampton when he is not doing his day job of lackluster
sales. He comes upon a pitiful fun fair type thing and enters a filthy tent
titled "TheSwords". Inside the show consists of a barker calling men to the
stage to plungeswordsinto the body of young woman who beautifies and seems
aroused by the process. She does not bleed as far as the narrator sees and
he also gets greatly aroused but he is too timid to take his turn and skips
out. The girl won't leave his mind and he happens upon the barker and the
girl called Madonna in a diner. A private show is arranged. During some
awkwardAickmansex the narrator becomes increasingly irritated with
Madonna's lack of emotional response to his arousal and trying to lift her
up for who knows what he pulls her hand off. She dresses while crying,
retrieves her hand and leaves. The barker show up to collect the money and
tells the narrator they will meet again. End of story.
On this reread this tale has lost none of it's power and I was startled at
how unpleasantly gruesome it remains. The narration of the tent show and
then the subsequent "first experience" are squirm inducing. What I found
oddest of all though is in the conclusion of Madonna's exit we are told,
"...she made a single appallingly significant snatch in my direction, caught
something up..." meaning the hand. Apparently also meaning that this sick,
nasty man actually sat there and held the detached arm while she was
dressing. Of course he was also all horned up by seeing strange men
stickswordsin her so it shouldn't surprise me I suppose. We have entered
a new
realm of even stranger sexual strangeness.
A great horror story but that doesn't mean it's enjoyable.

[Black Pilgrim]

I did not remember anything about this tale. As it is a minor Aickman work
it is possible I only read it once and quickly forgot it in prejudice toward
the finer, deeper stories. At any rate it is pretty good and worth the time.
Once again it seems a more conventional work than the longer tales and I
cannot help but think of de la Mare.

A middle aged woman named Rosa (!) is in self imposed exile in a dilapidated
mansion on a foreign island. She learns from her superstitious housekeepers
and a mysterious priest that her home is on the path to the church. Along
this path the dead are carried and at her home the porters are changed. This
gives Rosa the curiosity to seek out watching this take place. In typical
weird Aickman fashion the body being transported is her soul with which she
converses. She then makes plans to leave the next day.

Altered and alternate states of consciousness, separation or splitting of
spirit and body, and losing ones identity because of a supernatural
intervention seem to be constantly recurring themes so far in a great many
of these tales. This one rather obviously. This is also at least the fourth
island tale and every single protagonist has been driven away or exiled from
their exile though a little less so in "Houses of the Russians". Also I
notice that great deal of Aickman's women characters get caught in downpours
and drenched in rain whatever that means. Note that two of these elements
were present from the beginning in "The Trains" some decades before this
one. No wonder he could write such believably obsessive characters.

[Black Pilgrim]

A dreamy Aickman tale. This one is covered in the Philip Challinor essay
that Jim Rockhill links to above. I probably can't add much. I have always
liked this story but it has never made much sense. I am put in mind of "The
Haunted Baronet" which I should probably reread soon. The fate of Elmo
harkens back to "Never Visit Venice" but this time we get a description of
the carcass with "no proper head" and a body that almost would appear to
have been eaten - "...gnashed...gnawed...ripped...".

[Black Pilgrim]

Robert Aickman attempting to be Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu and while it may
have won a World Fantasy Award it is no CARMILLA.

The story centers on a teenage girl - I guess 14 to 16 years old though we
are not told - who travelling in Italy becomes the victim of a vampire. We
are told all this through diary entries wherein the girl constantly
complains most of the time and seems insightful and discerning beyond her
years. This story was good the first time I read but it does not stand up.
The points of vampire lore - puncture, blood, dreams, garlic, reflection,
etc. - seem as if they are being checked off a list. It all works and is a
good story but the typical depth and mystery is lacking. While Le Fanu's
masterpiece can stand up under read after read this one in my opinion
doesn't. Especially given how great Aickman can be when he is writing in the
way he does best. Take the next tale for example...

[Black Pilgrim]

Aickman's most well know tale and probably his best work. There are other
stories I like more but this is definitive Aickman and if you are reading
this and have never read this tale - What are you waiting for???

Covered extensively on this very newsgroup in the glory days and archived
here-

http://web.archive.org/web/20070824161107/www.prairienet.org/~almahu/hospice.htm

I have little to add in the way of new insight but a curious thing occurred
as I read this for tenth or twentieth time last night. Near the final pages
around when the Bannard doppelganger shows up I started dozing off. This
almost never happens to me and I do not read to fall asleep like some
people. Anyhow, I was dozing off enough that the book was falling out of my
hand but I never lost track of the story. I went back and reread the final
pages today and I had missed nothing. My first impression of Aickman was
that his stories were dreamlike and I still believe that to be true. The
best of his work -and a few other writes - seems put me into a state of
hypnagogia where the balance of the writing enters a state of dream and
wakefulness at the same time. No small accomplishment.

[Black Pilgrim]

I cannot do any better than this -

http://web.archive.org/web/20080123132242/www.prairienet.org/~almahu/fate.htm

And that essay covers much of what I think about this story. There is also
some other insight from the former regulars of this group here-

http://web.archive.org/web/20070828003118/www.prairienet.org/~almahu/samedog.htm

At one time I reread this and thought it was no good. This time around I had
the same impression as the first - a stunning, sexually disturbing tale
which manages to capture the horrific aspects of childhood regret in just
the right tone. A naked, personal story.

[Black Pilgrim]

The first person narrator Roy is a fresh from the nest aspiring writer who
edits pornographic literature for his uncle. From the start he is beset by
intrusive foreigners, remodelers, contractors and finally his new downstairs
neighbors. This is Mr. Millar of the title who operates an accounting firm
on the levels below Roy's attic apartment. In the basement unit is Maureen
and her family. Roy and Maureen have a flippant affair throughout much of
this story. Mr. Millar and his business are the chief focus of annoyance and
disturbance. The office never seems to do any actual business, all the talk
is vacuous nothingness, and Millar himself is described as an empty shell of
a human being. It is hinted that his dealings have been shady even going as
far as to say he has "done away' with his previous associates. Now all the
men and girls who provide the most annoyance to Roy are dressed in the
newest fashions and drive the newest flashiest cars. One night when the
downstairs offices- and Mr. Millar's place of repose through the week - are
supposedly empty Roy hears odd noises and upon investigation he smells the
odors of death "a graveyard smell" that permeates the whole building. Millar
and his
firm leave out supposedly but Roy and Maureen are all the better. Until off
course they open the door to the office and we find that the past has caught
up with Mr. Millar. It all ends in a happily ever after with a chaste kiss.
Apparently it is perfectly acceptable to peddle obscenity and diddle the
neighbor's wife but mini-skirts and office grab ass are objectionable.

A real groaner even for Aickman.

Technology is EEEEEEEEEEEEEEVVIL! Modernization is killing the life out of
humanity! Kids these days!

"Go to bed old man!"

[r***@ramseycampbell.com]

Forgive my turning the thread back on itself for a moment, but I just
wanted to mention a point about the Riefenstahl film THE BLUE LIGHT -
that although it was Robert's favourite film, which he said he saw
several times, his account of the plot in THE ATTEMPTED RESCUE is
weirdly inaccurate: he seems almost to be describing a version he
would have liked to have seen. I reviewed the film recently in VIDEO
WATCHDOG, but unfortunately this reference had to be cut for reasons
of space.

[Black Pilgrim]

Post by r***@ramseycampbell.com
Forgive my turning the thread back on itself for a moment, but I just
wanted to mention a point about the Riefenstahl film THE BLUE LIGHT -
that although it was Robert's favourite film, which he said he saw
several times, his account of the plot in THE ATTEMPTED RESCUE is
weirdly inaccurate: he seems almost to be describing a version he
would have liked to have seen. I reviewed the film recently in VIDEO
WATCHDOG, but unfortunately this reference had to be cut for reasons
of space.

Hello Mr. Campbell. Is your review available anywhere online?

[r***@ramseycampbell.com]

Post by Black Pilgrim

Post by r***@ramseycampbell.com
Forgive my turning the thread back on itself for a moment, but I just
wanted to mention a point about the Riefenstahl film THE BLUE LIGHT -
that although it was Robert's favourite film, which he said he saw
several times, his account of the plot in THE ATTEMPTED RESCUE is
weirdly inaccurate: he seems almost to be describing a version he
would have liked to have seen. I reviewed the film recently in VIDEO
WATCHDOG, but unfortunately this reference had to be cut for reasons
of space.

Hello Mr. Campbell. Is your review available anywhere online?

It isn't, I'm afraid.

[Black Pilgrim]

Funny to find on this reading that the title for this collection appears to
come directly from this story. The narrator takes his new bride Ursula's
hand - "But now the hand I took hold of was not merely cold, but like a
tight bag of ice." (COLD HAND IN MINE p. 109) I always thought it came from
"The Swords" but I note there is no indication of cold body temperature on
"Madonna" of that tale.

When I first read all these years ago I found this tale creepy and
disturbing but for some reason now it seems rather unintentionally silly.
Perhaps I am getting a little weary of Aickman's vagueness and his
characters constant penchant for whining and bitching. At the end of the war
our narrator meets and marries the above named Ursula from the Black Forest
area of Germany. All seems perfect marital bliss except Ursula has an ever
growing obsession with clocks of all types with which she decorates their
entire home. We soon learn that somehow she is emotionally and physically
dependent on the clocks and their operation. A mystery man in a van -
revealed only in vague second hand accounts - comes and attends the clocks.
After a break-in where many of the clocks are damaged things decline until
eventually the mystery man returns to claim the clocks and Ursula. So
essentially men never will know exactly what makes women tick. Thanks.

I recall that the artist known as rbadac once observed what he thought might
be a tenuous reference to William Faulkner in "The Hospice". When I read the
last line of this one I can't help but think of ABSALOM ABSALOM laughable as
that is.